Purpose: To summarise our experience treating patients with spinal angiolipomas (SAs) and to evaluate factors relating to its prognosis.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients diagnosed with SAs who received surgical treatment from January 2001 to February 2013.
Results: Twenty-one patients were described. We divide SAs into two types: "intraspinal" and "dumbbell-shaped". The former were further subclassified as "with lipomatosis" and "without lipomatosis". Overweight people are more likely to get the "with lipomatosis" type which needs different surgical strategy and/or a diet therapy to get better outcomes.
Conclusion: Diagnosis of SAs should be made with reference to clinical, radiological, and pathological findings. Application of different methods is needed to treat SAs.